4 'Bangladeshis' held in India over forgery

Police in western Indian state of Gujarat have arrested four suspected Bangladeshi nationals at the city of Vadodara for their alleged involvement in fraud involving foreign currency from Saudi Arabia, the US and Bangladesh.

According to Surat police, its Special Operations Group on Saturday arrested the four accused of duping unsuspecting citizens into believing that they were buying foreign currency of a higher value than the Indian rupee at a price cheaper than the market.

When the exchange was done, the victims found that the group had handed them a stash of blank paper.

The arrestees were identified as Mohammed Musharraf Mutbar, Aslam Nooruddin Akon, Ronnie Shehrab Munshi and Noorjamal Mohammad Mulla, all residents of Madaripur district in Bangladesh.

The accused have confessed to being a part of an organised syndicate of financial fraudsters from Bangladesh who are scattered across the major Indian cities to dupe citizens, said HM Vyas, police inspector of Vadodara SOG.

“The accused have told us that they arrived in India by bus with passports. They belong to a larger gang that is spread in cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, Surat, Kolkata and Vadodara. They carry a bundle of foreign currency and lure people by showing them the real currency and making them believe that they are paying a lower price for a higher denomination foreign currency,” Vyas said.

He added the passports of the arrested Bangladeshis have been confiscated along with bundles of blank paper, cut into the sizes of the notes of the respective countries with about three real notes placed on top to make people fall for their scam.

According to Vyas, the police are looking for illegal immigrants from Bangladesh after Vadodara city has witnessed a spate of incidents of gangs cheating people, primarily senior citizens.